OBAMA.............................................

What did you expect?

But maybe surprising for some of you...is the fact that I agree with him.

Before I get into that, bear with me while I ramble a bit.

From my overall perspective President Obama has been a disaster as President and although I could not vote for the man even if I was an American, after all I am a Libertarian, I was delighted to see him elected given his status as the first Black President of the United States of America.

I was soon to be disappointed in him, mainly because his Administration has spent trillion of dollars on credit - a credit which is wearing thin.

In addition, I do not warm to his We vs. Them philosophy - the We being the so-called downtrodden, welfare recipient and Trade Union Classes all backed by the Left.

Them are the Capitalists, the business community and the hard working centre who are family oriented, pay their taxes and their debts and obey the laws.

Obama was raised and worked in the We Community so it is not so surprising that he identifies with it.

In that regard, what really gets me is where exactly do Politicians like Obama think the money for their expansive governments come from if it is not from the Private Free Enterprise System? But even this System cannot keep up with Administrations' determined to outspend to the tune of Trillions of $ when their Treasuries are broke to begin with.

So you thought I said I agreed with Obama?

I do, insofar-as his decision on Libya is concerned.

This in spite of the great scorn he is now receiving around the world and in his own country where he is depicted as week-kneed, heartless, indecisive etc etc. for letting the innocents in Libya suffer at the hands of their Madman President. And this surprises me.

Did I mention to you that the US is broke - busted in fact with their currency in danger of going Peso. To be fair, this is not all Obama's fault. Republican Bush over his 8 year tenure too allowed their debt to climb to unrealistic levels.

But the fact remains that America is broke.

And as such, it can no longer fill the role as the World's Policeman - it is time for others to step up to the Plate and that is just what happened in the case of the Libyan Rebellion. France and then the UK took the lead in demanding action against the Crazed Dictator. And it's about time.

But permit me to digress again for a moment. Have you ever noticed that when the US does take some form of unilateral action, the chattering masses of the world denounce them in the vilest terms possible. And when the US sits back, stung from all of this criticism, these self same masses once again vilify America for not getting involved - for being indifferent to the plight of those less fortunate. Bottom line - the US simply cannot win.

In the face of this though the United States has on balanced persevered and has tried to do what is right despite the Arm Chair Critics to the contrary.

But what has changed in the last decade or so is that the balance of economic power is shifting away from the States. China as we all know is now its biggest creditor. National, State and Municipal governments are running huge deficits - and something has to give.

And it has started - as we know in places like Wisconsin, Union Powers are being constrained, in Michigan there large public layoffs - 25% and more and California has been reduced to issuing IOUs to its suppliers. The list goes on.

The National Government of the United States spends nearly 50% of its annual budget on Defence - this simply cannot continue. Cuts will soon have to be made or the States will descend again into a major Recession and more likely into a Depression.

So back to Libya. I don't know if Obama had this in mind when dealing with the Libyan Crisis. If he didn't he should have - and either way I fully support the man.

The day is ending when the US can be all things to all people - it is time for Europe - for South East Asia and others to step up and be counted.

That is not to say the day is over for America - but it is to say the day of them going it alone is rapidly coming to an end and we had better all get used to it.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

Our Hearts and Prayers are with the brave peoples of Japan

Their Monster Quake has been upgraded to 9.0 and the devastation it has caused is truly of biblical proportions.

That these proud peoples will bounce back is without question, as they have in the past, most recently after the close of WW II.

I can well remember when imports from Japan in those postwar years were mocked for their poor quality - just as I hear today it said about Chinese imports - but that did not last long. Indeed, before long, Japan was challenging and surpassing our very best in the categories of price and quality.

Japan and our second major enemy of that War are now economic powerhouses of the world. Japan stands number 3 and Germany is the lynch pin of a United Europe. Without both countries at our side, the dangers posed by both China and Russia would be so much more threatening.

A couple of years ago we had a Japanese student live with us for a few weeks. She was part of a high school group for which their curriculum required them to live with a family in a foreign country.

We of course got to know this young lady as well as the rest of kids with her from her Japan and found them to be just like our children when they were teenagers. Full of life, full of fun and always on the go.

That said, they had not yet graduated to body piercing, tattoos and strangely coloured hair. Hopefully they never will - but I digress.

I think of those kids when I see the accounts of what is now taking place so far away. I know full well that their spirit and enthusiasm for life will carry them through and along with them their country.

We here in Canada are so very fortunate that these types of disasters are rare occurrences and we need to thank God that this is so.

In the meantime we also need to do what we can to help those unfortunate folks. A great way would be by donating to the Red Cross.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

Every Time Harper Closes In On His Elusive Majority...

Something Blows Up In His Face.

I has happened once again and it has nothing to do with either Ms. Oda or Mr. Kenny - It is all about the Elections Canada and the 'in and out scandal'.

When I first heard about this matter I did not think it was such a big deal - what I understood it to be was that the National Tory Party provided funds to certain Ridings that had not spent their limit and these funds were allocated for the purpose of paying for local t.v. (media) advertising.

If more recent reports are accurate though, what really happened is that the National Tory Campaign provided funds to select local ridings and then immediately retrieved those funds back to the national campaign.

But it was not just a book entry since it is now alleged that this slight of hand entitled local tory associations to very large rebates from Elections Canada and those rebates of course are paid from Income Taxes.

One Riding - the Hull Aylmer Conservative Association, reported that that some $30,000 made their way from Elections Canada to its local coffers.

If you multiply that be the number of Ridings implicated you are soon up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This is the type of thing you would expect from past Liberal Regimes and not from the Torys.

I suspect that if the Opposition continues to seize on this issue, the favourable tory polls will start to wobble.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

Public Sector Unions ...

Should never have been permitted.

And now that they are here - they should be Disbanded.

Why you ask?

Because the Employer is You - the Taxpayer but You are at a serious disadvantage - You have no representation at the Negotiations.

Let's look at two examples - Wisconsin and Ontario.

In Wisconsin, the new Republican Governor is attempting to limit the power of its public service unions because his State can no longer afford the Settlements. Now get this - the State is broke - it has a $3 Billion deficit. The Unions are holding firm even though their intransigents will likely result in the loss of employment for many of the Union Membership. How selfish.

Now Ontario.

Ontario's deficit is a whopping $26 Billion accompanied by a total Debt of some $240 Billion which even in this low interest rate environment still consumes some $10 Billion annually in Interest Payments. And yet our dear Premier attacks the imbalance with cosmetic zeal. Even as the former Grit Finance Minister - John Manley is urging the Province to attack the Debt / Deficit on a "war footing".

In both our nations - Canada and the United States, Unions are in the decline and in the minority in the Private Sector. It is in the Public Sector in both countries where they continue to flourish.

It used to be that employees in the Public Sector - the civil service, the armed forces, the hospitals, the schools, firemen, policemen and so on - were paid less than their private sector counterparts on the basis that they had better working conditions and greater job security.

Today they have those latter benefits as well as better pay and more generous pensions in all, their pay and benefits are some 40% higher.

How did his come about?

You were not at the Table - the Negotiating Table that is.

Present were the Politicians and the Unions. The Unions made outrageous demands and the Politicians took the expedient routes and consistently caved. Neither was dealing with their own dough - and of course the Taxpayer Pot was endless.

Harris made an attempt to get a handle on this and indeed when he left power Ontario was still a Have Province with no Deficit (despite the Liberal Claim that they took over $5 Billion deficit).

McGuinty came in and bought Public Union Peace via huge wage and benefit settlements.

I remember a Labour Class in Law School where the Professor (a Union Negotiator) was trumpeting the fact that Nurses had just recently been granted the right to Unionize. I had some knowledge of Nurses - both my Mother and Wife are RNs so I spoke up to ask what would be gained by it and he said it would give them an opportunity to air their grievances and of course to Strike if those grievances were not addressed. I pointed out to him that I was not aware of any such grievances - certainly ones serious enough to warrant Strike - but that Unionization would of itself lead to labour unrest. The Professor was not impressed and not surprisingly I received my worst mark in his course.

And what happened to the concept of essential services. Government employees not only work in the best conditions and enjoy the greatest job security they also work in an absolute monopoly. No one exists to step in and do their work in cases of labour stoppage and it is the poor Taxpayer that suffers from their lack of service.

If a Marshmallow factory goes on strike - there will be other Marshmallow companies that will step in to fill the void - even if the Marshmallow Industry became a Monopoly - the Public could turn to Twinkies - we would not be held ransom.

Even here in Ottawa we have the recent example of the Bus Strike which caused great inconvenience to the commuting public and great economic damage to local business. The Strike was over scheduling - a Management prerogative but one that the Union coveted. This long Strike finally came to an end when it was agreed that the issue of scheduling would go to Arbitration. The Arbitrator sided with Management. The Issue Resolved.

Well not so fast - recent rumblings indicate that the Bus Union is once again considering labour withdrawal based on the Scheduling Issue. Toronto has seen common sense and recently moved to declare Bus Service an Essential Service - as it should be.

Indeed - any and all services provided by those who receive their pay and benefits from the hapless taxpayer should be similarly declared Essential and I would take it a step further and remove their right to Unionization and leave that activity to the Marshmallow factories and to the Coal Mines.

As I see it....

'Galagher'

Democracies...A Short Part 2

I would call this new organization The League of Democratic Nations after the defunct Post WW I League of Nations - it has a nice ring to it.

So let the current United Nations rant and rave - through the Permanent Vetoes of England, France and the United States - we can keep it from causing any serious damage.

We will though have to continue tolerate such idiocies as their appointment this week of Iran to the UN's Womens' Rights Commission. Can you imagine.

As I see it...

"Galagher'

Democracies Unite.....

If the Middle East has taught us anything it is the need for true democracies to unite within an Organization similar to the United Nations - with one notable exception - in the new organization non-democracies need not apply.

When I say true democracies I am referring to those democratic states based on the Rule of Law. Without such Rules, you risk Tyranny by the Majority. Don`t forget that Hitler was first elected as a result of the democratic process and this is likely to occur in many of the Middle Eastern States following the Revolutions.

In past Blogs I have expressed the need for such an Organization - this need is greater than ever given that America is broke and in decline. It is now the time for similarly constructed nations to come together to relieve America of its burden.

And unlike the UN - this group would already have its own armed forces - NATO.

No longer would the world have to sit idly by while mad men and women slaughtered or starved or imprisoned their own citizens.

So deep six the United Nation.

Not at all.

Sir Winston Churchill said it best - Jaw Jaw is better than War War.

So let the petty dictators and tyrants talk - is does not cost that much and it keeps them from being totally isolated in their respective fiefdoms.

And it will provide ongoing comic relief to the world - seeing their important Organs such as the Human Rights Commission occupied by such notable Human Rights abusers as Libya and Cuba.

The new organization would work with potential members to strengthen their economies and set in place the intuitions needed to ensure democratic growth.

Will it happen - I am more confident today that it will and with the increasing threats throughout the world it cannot happen too soon.

As I see it...

`Galager

On A Lighter Note ...

You Done Well.

We have had an argument within the family for some time now on whether it is proper English to say 'Did Well' or 'Did Good' as in little Frankie did well on his exam rather than little Frankie did good on his exam.

Our Discussions have gone something like this.

(me) How did you do in your presentation at work today Anne?

(Anne) I think I did Well.

You mean you were feeling healthy when you gave it?

No, I mean it went okay.

So you did good?

No I did well !

There you go bringing health back into the argument.

What has my health got to do with how I did?

I agree.

You agree what?

That health has no place in how you did unless of course your health was somehow involved in how you did. For instance Anne, you might have said 'I could have done better but a migraine negatively affected my presentation'.

So how did your day go Galagher?

It went good.

As opposed to evil?

I suppose one could say that - but in my mind good is opposite to bad - as in the good, bad and the ugly.

I could say something about Ugly but I will let it pass.

A few things come to my mind as well in that regard.

Okay - in all reality you have to admit using the word 'well' sounds much better than using the word 'good'.

No I don't - in fact using the word 'well' sounds pretentious to me when what you are really trying to say is whether you did good or did bad. You are either well or not well and you either did good or you did not.

You are simply just wrong.

So I looked it up and found that we were both wrong and both correct. Correct in the sense that the words 'good' and 'well' can be used interchangeably in accepted English. And wrong in the sense that the best word to use in such circumstances is the word Fine - as in how did you do in your presentation / how did your day go?

'It went fine"

Who'd a thunk.

As I see it...

'Galagher'